I Sent 500,000 Emails to Businesses... Here's What Happened
Education
Introduction
In a bold experiment, I sent over 500,000 AI-personalized emails to various businesses to test the viability of making money through email marketing. In this article, I’ll walk you through how AI enabled me to tailor each email, the results of this outreach, and the revenue I generated from the campaign.
Understanding Cold Emailing
Cold emailing is a strategy where you reach out to potential customers with the hope of offering them products or services. The key to transforming cold emailing into a profitable venture lies in targeting the right businesses with compelling messaging. This requires an effective strategy that stands out in crowded inboxes, captures attention, and communicates value.
AI personalizes emails, enabling hyper-targeting and relevance, so recipients feel the messages are tailored just for them. The advantage of leveraging AI at scale is that it allows for broad outreach while maintaining the personal touch of a custom email.
The Importance of Personalization
Decision-makers are inundated with generic emails daily. By utilizing AI, you can create messages tailored to the recipient's specific challenges and business landscape, significantly increasing the odds of receiving a response.
Crafting an Effective Lead List
To start, you’ll need to upload a lead list. I used a tool called Instantly Lead Finder, which allows you to filter leads not just by location but also more nuanced criteria like company size, recent news, or technologies used. One clever tactic is using employee size as a proxy for a company’s revenue potential.
After building the lead list, I uploaded it to my campaign and utilized AI prompts to customize the outreach. I selected community-built prompts or created my own, allowing the AI to generate tailored messages for each lead. For example, if a company recently acquired another, I could reference that acquisition in the opening line of the email, establishing relevance.
Structuring the Email Campaign
Simplistic emails like “Hi, I’d like to introduce our services” often fall flat. Instead, a personalized email could start with something like:
"Hi [First Name], I noticed [Company Name] is expanding into new markets. We’ve helped companies like [Similar Company 1] and [Similar Company 2] streamline that process, and I think we can help you do the same."
This approach makes the outreach feel purposeful and directly related to the recipient's circumstances. The first line of the email is crucial, as it also serves as the preview line, determining if it will be opened or ignored.
Results of the Campaign
After sending out 570,000 personalized emails, the results were eye-opening. We secured 3,400 business opportunities, which translates to a reply rate of about 2%. While this may not seem impressive at a glance, it translates to 11,000 engaging replies.
From this engagement, 3,400 businesses were interested in pursuing discussions about my offerings. Importantly, these interactions can be cultivated into long-term relationships, ensuring a pipeline of potential leads for future endeavors.
Leveraging AI for Scalability
The results showcase the power of AI in scaling outreach while maintaining personalization. With the right tools and techniques in place, cold emailing can indeed become a productive acquisition channel.
If you’re curious about effective cold email strategies that drive genuine interest and convert into sales opportunities, feel free to reach out for more information!
Keywords
- Cold emailing
- AI personalization
- Targeting businesses
- Email marketing
- Lead list
- Engagement
- Sales opportunities
FAQ
What is cold emailing?
Cold emailing is the practice of reaching out to potential customers who have had no prior interaction, with the goal of promoting products or services.
How can AI improve cold emailing?
AI can personalize email content at scale, making messages relevant to individual recipients, which increases engagement and response rates.
What tools can help with lead generation?
Tools like Instantly Lead Finder allow users to filter and build targeted lead lists based on various criteria, enhancing the effectiveness of outreach campaigns.
What were the results of the email campaign?
Out of 570,000 emails sent, the campaign generated 3,400 opportunities and 11,000 replies, showcasing the effectiveness of AI-personalized messaging.
How important is the first line of an email?
The first line is crucial as it not only conveys the purpose of the message but also serves as the preview that can entice recipients to open the email.